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Bad News: We May Have an IoT Problem on Our Hands

The Mirai botnet attack should cause investors to rethink the growth potential of the Internet of Things.

The Internet of Things (IoT) -- which connects wearables, smart home appliances, and other devices to the internet -- has been widely hyped as the next big growth market by tech companies. Intel(NASDAQ:INTC) claims that the number of connected devices will surge from 15 billion in 2015 to 200 billion by 2020. That's a whopping 26 smart objects tethered to every person on the earth.

Image source: Getty Images.

Bullish forecasts like those sparked a land grab in the IoT market, with companies often pumping out connected objects before considering the privacy and security implications. That lack of oversight became brutally clear recently with a series of cyberattacks which exploited unsecured IoT devices to take down major websites likeTwitter, Shopify, and Spotify. If these attacks get worse, could the dream of connecting "everything" to the internet suddenly seem like a really bad idea?

Rise of the robots

One of the most common ways to knock a website offline is with a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack. In this attack, hordes of devices which are infected by malware act as "bots" to continually flood traffic to a targeted site and knock it offline. In the past, these networks of infected devices, called "botnets", were mainly comprised of computers.

As the security of traditional PCs improved, botnets spread toward other connected devices like smartphones and tablets. But now that mobile OS defenses are improving, hackers have started targeting IoT devices. Many security experts have warned that many IoT devices can be hacked with simple attacks which were blocked on PCs years ago. Nonetheless, many companies looking to capitalize on the growth of the IoT market threw caution to the wind as they launched a wide array of connected devices.

This created the perfect opportunity for IoT botnets to strike. The Mirai botnet, which primarily targets remote cameras and home routers, was recently used in several major DDoS attacks on cybersecurity journalist Brian Kreb's website, French web host OVH, and internet directory service Dyn, plus the entire internet infrastructure of Liberia. To make matters worse, the source code for Mirai was recently released online, guaranteeing that more advanced Mirai-based attacks will follow.

Google's Nest, Home, and Cast products create a smart home ecosystem which controls the temperature, answers questions, receives commands, and "casts" music and video to various screens and audio devices around the home. Samsung's SmartThings ecosystem connects various smart appliances to each other and its mobile app.

Apple's HomeKit tethers third-party devices to its iOS app, while Amazon does the same with its Echo smart speakers. Facebook hasn't formally entered the smart home race yet, but it's already teased a home AI platform for controlling connected lights and thermostats.

Google Home. Image source: Google.

These companies all want to expand their internet presence into physical homes to increase user dependence on their hardware, software, or services. But if Mirai-like attacks continue knocking websites offline and making global headlines, consumers will likely think twice before upgrading all their "dumb" appliances to "smart" ones.

So who's trying to protect the IoT?

The Mirai botnet sounds scary, but companies are developing countermeasures, just as they previously did with PCs and mobile devices. Companies on the front line include networking giant Cisco, cybersecurity giant Symantec, and next-gen firewall vendors Palo Alto Networks and Check Point Software. Threat prevention firms like FireEye have also been improving their software to recognize these IoT-based botnet attacks.

There are also new security measures in the RTOS (real-time operating systems) which run on IoT chips. ARM Holdings, which was recently acquired by Softbank, previously beefed up the security of its mBed RTOS with the acquisitions of security firms Offspark and Sansa Security, as well as a partnership with IBM. Intel's IoT chips run on its VxWorks RTOS, which is secured by Intel Security (which is being spun off with a majority stake sold to TPG) software, which is tethered to Intel's IoT Gateway.

The road ahead...

These efforts indicate that progress is being made, but the IoT market can be tough to secure due to the wide variety of different devices on the market. This hardware and software fragmentation makes it easier for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities and harder for security companies to counter the attacks. If this continues to happen, the bullish sentiment for the IoT market could fade, but cybersecurity companies would benefit from rising demand for IoT security services.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun owns shares of Amazon.com and Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon.com, Apple, Check Point Software Technologies, Facebook, FireEye, Shopify, and Twitter. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems, Intel, and Palo Alto Networks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Author

Leo is a Tech and Consumer Goods Specialist who has covered the crossroads of Wall Street and Silicon Valley since 2012. His wheelhouse includes cloud, IoT, analytics, telecom, and gaming related businesses. Follow him on Twitter for more updates!